ESPN yesterday morning drew a 1.5 overnight rating for Andy Murray’s straight-sets win over Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon men’s final, marking the net's lowest figure since it acquired complete Wimbledon TV rights prior to the '12 event. Yesterday's match also is down 21% from a 1.9 overnight in both ’15 and ’14 for Novak Djokovic-Roger Federer. This year's matchup also is down from Murray's straight-sets win over Djokovic in '13 for his first Wimbledon title (2.0), and down sharply from Federer's four-set win over Murray in '12 (3.1). Meanwhile, Serena Williams defended her title in straight sets during Saturday’s women's final, earning her seventh Wimbledon championship with a victory over Angelique Kerber. That telecast drew a 1.4 overnight, up from a 1.3 rating last year and up big from a 0.7 for Petra Kvitova's straight-sets win over Eugenie Bouchard in ’14. Marion Bartoli's win over Sabine Lisicki in '13 drew a 1.1 overnight. Saturday's telecast was up/down from a 1.4 for Williams' win over Agnieszka Radwanska in '12 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
LABOR OF LOVE: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes ESPN's coverage of tennis tournaments is "simplistic, yet all-encompassing and satisfying in its simplicity." The net's Wimbledon coverage "feels like a labor of love, especially listening to the outstanding overall work" of analysts John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Chris Evert, Darren Cahill and Pam Shriver, as well as host Chris McKendry and lead announcer Chris Fowler. They all work "as if there is nowhere they would rather be" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/11). But in N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes at "no point" during yesterday's final did ESPN's crew "allow a point to be played without a following conversation." Not one point "was allowed to speak for itself" (N.Y. POST, 7/11).
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: VARIETY's Andrew Wallenstein listed Twitter as one of his "losers" of the week for its live stream from Wimbledon. If the stream is "any indication, there’s reason to worry the NFL partnership can be pulled off." In the "absence of any specifics Twitter has yet to provide on just what streaming football games will look like on the platform, the 'incomplete' dry runs is all we have to go on, and this first public one did not inspire confidence" (VARIETY.com, 7/8).
